Welcome to our 37th season! I have lots to share today, so crack open a beer or pop a cork, and read on! All this information is important for a successful first rehearsal on September 9.

• Assistant conductor named
• Rehearsal and performance schedule
• Season repertoire and music downloads
• ForScore
• Dues and Band Camp
• Fundraising call to arms
• Slack
• One more job opening
• Herko production at Chappaqua PAC

Jessica Stein-Natale named Assistant Conductor

I have named Jessica Stein-Natale as our assistant conductor, with unanimous board approval, effective immediately. When I realized that naming an assistant would be helpful for many reasons (especially as a safety net for me as my mother continues to age), Jessica was the clear choice. She is an excellent musician and I am very proud of her work, both as a member of the trumpet section and as our apprentice conductor in February 2023.

Please join me in congratulating Jessica and welcoming her to this new role!

Rehearsal and performance schedule

Our rehearsal date requests have been submitted to Karina, and she has noted the first conflicts. Please bookmark this Google sheet to keep track of future rehearsals and alternate rehearsal site planning.

Our first rehearsal is Monday, September 9 at TMH. Be sure to download/print/save all nine music selections and bring them to rehearsal. See below for downloading details.

Looking ahead: We will hold sectionals for everyone on Monday, September 16, with woodwinds and brass meeting at Irvington Presbyterian Church (please bring a music stand) and percussion at TMH.

Season repertoire and music downloads

• You can preview the entire season, with sample recordings, on this preview page.
• Section leaders can view instrumentation details on this Google sheet (go to the “Inst” tabs for each concert).
• Download your parts for the first rehearsal and Fall concert from this Google Drive folder. I’m still working through coding and labeling some scans, so if you don’t see all nine title folders, they may still be held in the “Not ready” folder. As I publish this post, 3 of 9 are ready; I will continue to work through the weekend to publish the remaining folders, but I wanted to get this post out today. My goal is to have all parts ready for download by or before Monday, Labor Day.

ForScore

Many of you have opted to move to digital folders for rehearsals/performances. ForScore is the leading iPad app for downloading, organizing, and reading digital parts in rehearsals. Although it is easy to use, it can be tricky for the uninitiated. The board has taken a couple steps to help players who are interested in using their iPads and ForScore for rehearsals:

1. Jessica Stein-Natale created an incredibly helpful PDF with simple-to-follow instructions and tips. Check it out here. Note that you need an internet connection to download your parts, but once imported to ForScore, you can read everything in your library without Wifi.
2. We will hold two clinics to answer questions and help players with hands-on guidance:
   1. Thursday, September 5 at 7:30-8:30 pm, via the Zoom link below — just log on to join Tom Sweezey, Chris Carbone, and other power users.
      ForScore clinic with WSW:
      https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86297001923?pwd=PPpt7Jtkbz5gg87vEG0CWfK5GkIyse.1
      Meeting ID: 862 9700 1923 Passcode: 4scoreWSW
   2. Monday, September 9 at 7:00 pm at TMH, in person before our first rehearsal begins at 7:30 pm. Please help set up your chair/stand first, then meet in the front left rows of the orchestra seating area.

Dues increase and Band Camp

UPDATE: For the first time in twenty years, the board has voted to raise our membership dues, raising the annual amount from $100 to $125. (If we were keeping up with inflation, the increase would be $160.) These additional funds will go directly into our general operating fund to defray concert costs.

IMPORTANT: In return for this increase, every member will receive access to digital concert recording downloads via Band Camp at no charge. The age of CD’s has passed, and this will enable us to distribute our concert recordings for member review much easier and much more equitably. Watch for announcements about album downloads.

Fundraising volunteers sought

Few people like the words “fund raising.” In fact, no one wants to think about money when you just want to play your instrument. But, there are some hard realities about our WSW finances that we must address, and fund-raising simply must be part of the plan. We are not asking the members of WSW to make additional donations, but we are looking for a significant team of people from the band to spearhead our planning. It doesn’t have to take inordinate amounts of your time when we know you’d rather be practicing.

The request right now is to figure out how you can say yes to join our efforts. The board heard a presentation this summer from a professional fundraiser who has great ideas, and we want to actualize them. We need you! Please step forward and let us know you’ll participate – speak to any board member or reply to me directly to volunteer (or use the new Slack workspace — see below — to send your message).

Slack

Slack is a popular workplace communication app that offers messaging, file sharing, and project planning features. It is known for its ease of use and customizable interface. The WSW Board has been using Slack for many years, eliminating long, confusing emails and allowing us to comment and reply in themed threads. Best of all, it’s free!

In order to offer more transparency and open communication, the Board has opened a dedicated workspace for all WSW members. You can use Slack to:

• Communicate directly with me or any board member
• Offer a suggestion
• Volunteer for our fundraising committee
• Quickly see weather cancellations, traffic delays, or site changes
• Offer a gig
• Advertise member-based performances outside of WSW

If you already use Slack at work, this is an easy addition to your current dashboard. If you’re joining for the first time, know that signing on is easy. There are downloads for Macs, PC’s, iPhone, iPads, and Android devices, or you can access it from any browser. And best of all, you can configure your preferences so you get an email when there is a new post — eliminating the need to constantly monitor your account.

To join, click here and create an email/password login, or use your Google credentials. If you have any questions, contact me by email reply, or connect with any board member.

Another job opening

Thanks to Marc Perler for passing this along:
The Mt. Vernon City School District has a current  opening for a Music Teacher at Benjamin Turner Middle School. Contact Doris Dapaah, School Principal, for additional information, 929-505-1154 or DDapaah@mtvernoncsd.org.

Herko production at Chappaqua PAC

Ed Herko and his wife Michelle, Artistic Director for State of Play Productions (Westchester County’s newest playwright incubator), invite WSW and their guests to a staged reading of the three-time Tony nominated Broadway hit comedy ‘POTUS, Or Behind Every Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,’ by Selina Fillinger. One night only, it starts at 7:30PM on Friday, September 13 at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center (doors open at 7PM). Michelle is presenting this in partnership with the League of Women Voters of New Castle.

Michelle moved her NYC theater company State of Play Productions to Westchester in 2023 and is developing and producing full length plays in Westchester. Proceeds raised are going to produce two full length original works in their 2025 season. Tickets are available at  https://stateofplayproductions.eventbrite.com/

Michelle is offering WSW members a special $15 courtesy discount by using discount code WSW for $45 tickets. There will be light bites, a specialty cocktail, wine, beer and a non-alcoholic option. There will also be a video installation of State of Play Productions both past and future.

Amanda Kiel shared this with me this weekend. Send inquiries directly to Amanda (email address below).

My soon to be former school is Van Nest Academy, PS/IS 498 in the Bronxdale section of the Bronx. It’s a great job for an early or mid career teacher. The position entails K-8 general music plus 5-8 band, which this year should now have two sections, beginner and intermediate, as some kids will be in their third year of playing their instruments. I switched from doing two concerts per year with the general music classes to doing just one, which made it easier to plan a curriculum around.

There is every imaginable set of classroom instruments: Orff instruments, lots of hand percussion, guitars, bass, and ukuleles. All meticulously labeled and cared for by me! Principal is very generous with materials, and open to community partnerships, such as Carnegie Hall, which I did with second and fifth graders for the past two years. Great kids, great families, great admin, plus a fairly modern building.

I learned a lot from the job, and I think the next person would too! Please send your resume to amandasarahkeil@gmail.comand I will introduce you to the principal.

I have learned that the K-2 music teacher in the Hawthorne public schools has suddenly resigned. If you know anyone looking for a last minute elementary music job, please tell them to email the school’s principal, Anne Stern at Astern@mtplcsd.org.

I’ll be sending all the information and details for the opening of our 37th season next week. Have a good weekend.

My late-July post includes:

• Kudos/gratitude for the season and Caramoor
• 2024-2025 season preview (including a Side-by-Side Concert at White Plains HS)
• Cuong commission update
• Library for next season
• Auditions

Season finale at Caramoor

This was an amazing season, filled with challenging repertoire and unique performance opportunities. The two collaborative concerts with the West Point Band gave us some amazing experiences to engage with these phenomenal players. The reboot of the Wind Conducting Symposium garnered excellent reviews. The audience at our sold out performance on July 4 really appreciated your technical and musical artistry, and the 65 handbells really added the icing to the cake at the end of 1812. I thank all of you for your diligence and dedication, which brought the audience to its feet on several occasions. It finally felt like “we’re back” after the hiatus caused by the pandemic. Special thanks go to Katherine for juggling all the personnel matters, David for stepping in to wrangle the bellringers, Barton for his amazing arrangements, Marge and David for managing our finances, the board for its support, and YOU for making it all happen.

Donna pointed out after Caramoor that many of you on stage could not hear me speaking between numbers. I’ve added a reminder into my notes for 2025 to ask the sound engineer to place a monitor speaker on stage to correct this. In the meantime, if you’d like to read any of my Caramoor 2024 podium notes, click here to see that document.

Caramoor 2025

Next year, July 4 is a Friday night. On the personnel commitment form, I listed Monday, June 30 as our dress rehearsal, but on reflection, it does seem quite far ahead of the performance that week. I will ask the board to consider moving the dress to Wednesday, July 2, and if approved, request this with Karina at TMH. For now, please keep both Monday, June 30 and Wednesday, July 2 penciled in your calendars for now until both the board and Karina have a chance to assess and act.

Commission and 2024-25 season

Viet Cuong just celebrated the successful premiere of John & Jim. He has a symphony commission pending with the US Air Force Band, which will premiere in 2026. And the parts and score for our commission is due for delivery on February 15, 2025; we will premiere it at our May 2025 concert.

The 2024-25 season is filled with exciting new works, celebrating the work of many diverse composers. Our guest artists are coming from near and far, and are truly excited to work with us.  I’ve created this page with audio links to the majority of the works programmed. I encourage you to check out the recordings.

We will dedicate the time for our Monday, January 27 rehearsal to perform a Side-by-Side concert with the instrumental music students of White Plains High School (no additional time will be required of you outside our normal rehearsal schedule). The works we will perform that evening will be pulled from the current Winter rep.

I’ll prepare and distribute a final spreadsheet detailing repertoire and instrumentations by the end of the summer.

Library

Our electronic distribution of music parts was extremely successful last season, and so we will continue to use the same method this season. Nancy will distribute black folders at the first rehearsal. Everyone will download their own parts from the links posted on the home page this site.

Auditions – Tuesday, September 3

Our annual member auditions are scheduled for Tuesday, September 3 at Irvington Presbyterian Church, just south of Tarrytown. Subs who have not yet played a formal audition, in addition to any new players considering membership, should contact Katherine at kathf.music at gmail.com to request detailed audition information and schedule an audition time. If you know of a qualified player who would be interested in WSW, please send them to Katherine.

Enjoy the summer!

I’ll be in touch again at the end of August to update you on our opening rehearsals.